Optimization of power and computational density of a data center

ABSTRACT

Techniques for optimizing power and computational density of data centers are described. According to various embodiments, a benchmark test is performed by a computer data center system. Thereafter, transaction information and power consumption information associated with the performance of the benchmark test are accessed. A service efficiency metric value is then generated based on the transaction information and the power consumption information, the service efficiency metric value indicating a number of transactions executed via the computer data center system during a specific time period per unit of power consumed in executing the transactions during the specific time period. The generated service efficiency metric value is then compared to a target threshold value. Thereafter, a performance summary report indicating the generated service efficiency metric value, and indicating a result of the comparison of the generated service efficiency metric value to the target value, is generated.

PRIORITY

This application is a continuation of and claims the benefit of priorityto U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/472,918, now U.S. Pat. No.9,870,297, entitled “OPTIMIZATION OF POWER AND COMPUTATIONAL DENSITY OFA DATA CENTER,” filed on Aug. 29, 2014, which is hereby incorporated byreference herein in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present application relates generally to data processing systemsand, in one specific example, to techniques for optimizing power andcomputational density of data centers.

BACKGROUND

Many businesses such as, for example, search engine websites, e-commercewebsites, marketplace websites, etc.) rely on data centers that processlarge amounts of data. Data centers typically include many servercomputers and other devices that consume power. Data center powerconsumption is currently on the rise and is expected to continue growingrapidly, particularly due to the popularity of mobile devices and themillions of users connecting to the Internet.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Some embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not limitation inthe figures of the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a network diagram depicting a client-server system, withinwhich one example embodiment may be deployed;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an example system, according to variousembodiments;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example method, according tovarious embodiments;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating an example performance summaryreport, according to various embodiments;

FIG. 5 illustrates various examples of operations information receivedand managed by a data management module, according to variousembodiments;

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary data structure containing variousoperations information received and managed by a data management module,according to various embodiments;

FIG. 7 illustrates an example portion of a user interface screendisplayed by a system, according to various exemplary embodiments;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example method, according tovarious embodiments;

FIG. 9 illustrates an example mobile device, according to variousembodiments; and

FIG. 10 is a diagrammatic representation of a machine in the exampleform of a computer system within which a set of instructions, forcausing the machine to perform any one or more of the methodologiesdiscussed herein, may be executed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Example methods and systems for optimizing power and computationaldensity of data centers are described. In the following description, forpurposes of explanation, numerous specific details are set forth inorder to provide a thorough understanding of example embodiments. Itwill be evident, however, to one skilled in the art that the presentinvention may be practiced without these specific details.

According to various embodiments, a benchmark test is performed by acomputer data center system. Thereafter, transaction information andpower consumption information associated with the performance of thebenchmark test by the computer data center system is then accessed. Aservice efficiency metric value is then generated based on thetransaction information and the power consumption information, theservice efficiency metric value indicating a number of transactionsexecuted via the computer data center system during a specific timeperiod per unit of power consumed in executing the transactions duringthe specific time period. The generated service efficiency metric valueis then compared to a target threshold value. Thereafter, a performancesummary report indicating the generated service efficiency metric value,and indicating a result of the comparison of the generated serviceefficiency metric value to the target value, is generated.

Various embodiments may be applied in the context of a benchmarkingphase of a data center optimization process described herein foridentifying and selecting data center components. The data centeroptimization process described here may be utilized to select thecomponents of one or more data center servers and associated rackconfigurations, and to evaluate the environments that they operate in,in order to optimize server footprint and computational density. Morespecifically, there is described herein a technique to optimizetechnology portfolios, by identifying a combination of hardwarecommodities and server solutions that are tested for multipleenvironments, operations systems, and application environments.Moreover, year-over-year performance analysis may be generated that cansubstantiate the cost optimization of each component. Such a data centeroptimization process may enable an enterprise to remove hundreds ofdifferent systems designed for different types of workloads within anenterprise environment, and design a single server platform that isoptimized for all of these workloads. Such a data center optimizationprocess will now be described.

In a first step of the overall data center optimization process, desiredserver requirements are gathered from customers, where such requirementsmay be expressed in terms of the capability, price, and performance ofvarious data center components. Examples of such server requirementsinclude: how many cores does the customer desire in each processor, howmuch random access memory (RAM) does the customer think they will need,what kind of disk speed/size does the customer think their applicationwill need, and so on.

In a second step of the overall data center optimization process, thecustomer requirements are analyzed and different candidate componentsthat meet the customer's performance, price targets, and otherrequirements, are identified. This process may involve communicationwith various commodity and Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM)vendors, such as the manufacturers of server processors, hard drives,storage components, memory components, and so on.

In a third step of the overall data center optimization process,benchmarks may be obtained from customers and elsewhere for the purposesof validating and optimizing the candidate components of the data centerservers. Benchmarks may include generic, industry standard benchmarks,as well as application-specific benchmarks that customers have providedbased on applications they foresee being deployed on the data centersystem. Thus, this benchmarking phase involves testing actual componentswith data, in order to identify an optimized data center configurationmeeting the customer's requirements. At the conclusion of thebenchmarking phase, components that are optimized may be identified, anda server configuration that is close to the final bill of materials(BOM) may be identified. During the benchmarking testing, inefficienciesin either the hardware that is targeted for use, or inefficiencies inhow the software uses the hardware, may be identified. The benchmarkingprocess may also involve determining, for each customer, what is thefewest number of server configurations (also referred to herein asserver SKUs or stock keeping units) that are still optimized and costeffective. For example, each customer may be associated with a differentprofile, and as a result of the data center optimization techniquesdescribe herein, each customer may be presented with a single server SKUthat is cost optimized for each of them or even for all of them, asopposed to each of the customers buying several different types of SKUs.

In a fourth “proof of concept” step of the overall data centeroptimization process, a data center configuration that has been testedin the lab with benchmarks may be tested with actual production-basedsoftware. In other words, the final components may be deployed in thedata center in order to ensure that all the previous calculations andestimates are validated in true production conditions. At this fourthstep, the candidate system may be operated for a certain period of time(e.g., a month), and minor adjustments may be performed as necessary inorder to optimize performance.

In a fifth step of the overall data center optimization process, a TotalCost of Ownership (TCO) analysis may be performed in order to ensurethat the system does not exceed customer cost requirements. The finalresulting server configuration may then be treated as a plan of record.Follow up steps may be performed, such as planning the timing and otherdetails involving the switch over from one server BOM (e.g. currentgeneration server BOM) to the next generation server BOM.

Notwithstanding the data optimization techniques described herein, eachcustomer previously performed their own server selection process,ordering their own servers, and typically selecting something that isnot optimized. In the process, customers were paying premium prices bothfor the server components themselves and also for the data center spacethey consume. Using the data center optimization techniques describedherein, a large number of servers may be deployed for customers at atime, where these servers are all preconfigured in a single serverdesign solution in large quantities to meet their business needs.

As described above, a benchmarking phase of a data optimization processmay involve utilizing industry standard generic benchmarks to evaluatemultiple hardware solutions to understand the optimum configuration fora customer. As described herein, a benchmark is the act of running acomputer program, a set of programs, or other operations, in order toassess the relative performance of an object, normally by running anumber of standard tests and trials against it. Thus, a benchmarktypically exercises the hardware components in the server system andacts as a simulation of potential workloads. Examples of benchmarksinclude Standard Performance Evaluation Corporation (SPEC) benchmarkswell known by those skilled in the art that may be performed to evaluatea processor, a storage system, how fast hard drives and disks operate,memory systems (e.g., RAM), the clock rate of the memory, the latency ofthe memory (how fast the memory can execute with a processor), and soon. Thus, a benchmark is a program to measure the capacity of a givenset of materials by running a representative workload of some featurethat is being measured, and doing so in a consistent way by using eithercaptured data or manufactured set of data (so that rerunning the test ata different time should yield the same result).

Accordingly, by utilizing benchmarks, different candidate hardware setsand components may be evaluated collectively, and the power usage of thehardware components together may be understood, as well as environmentalfactors like inlet temperature and total airflow (e.g., across allcomponents, because if it is in a super hot environment performance maydegrade). Standard generic benchmarks include the SPEC benchmarks thatmay be applied as described herein to hyper scale use cases tounderstand generational performance. Thereafter, customer-specificbenchmarks (e.g., based on a search workload of a online search engine)may be utilized to evaluate the actual application performance of thecandidate systems to see if it is consistent with targets as well as toidentify potential optimization. In some embodiments, differentbenchmarks may be associated with different types of customer workloads.For example, for a search environment, the “SPEC power” benchmark (suchas “SPECpower_ssj2008”) evaluates the power and performancecharacteristics of volume server class computers, and correlates veryhighly with the search-type software workload. On the other hand, for anonline financial transaction environment, the “SPEC int” benchmark (fortesting CPU integer processing power) may be utilized as it tocorrelates highly to that type of workload.

According to various embodiments described herein, various serviceefficiency metrics may be generated based on the results of abenchmarking test or based otherwise on some aspect of the performanceof a system that is performing a benchmarking test. As described herein,a service efficiency metric may generally be defined as an analyticalmeasurement intended to quantify a state or a characteristic of asystem. For example, a benchmarking test may involve processing actualor sample queries (such as a search queries received via a searchengine), actual or sample postings of listings (such as seller listingsassociated with an online marketplace), actual or sample onlinefinancial transactions (such as online purchase orders associated withan online marketplace). Such testing may be also be performed atprocessor performance levels, such as at 10% performance, 20%performance, etc. As described in more detail below, a serviceefficiency metric such as queries (e.g., search queries) per second perwatt at each processor performance level may be calculated, in order toensure that the processor is achieving the targets and is consistentgeneration-over-generation. Thus, queries per second per watt may be avaluable indicator, because the queries per second of a secondgeneration system might be much improved versus a prior generation, butthe queries per second per watt metric may indicate that the secondgeneration system is consuming double the energy versus the priorgeneration, and may thus indicate that the second generation system isnot optimized.

In some embodiments, a performance summary may be generated during thebenchmarking phase that highlights service efficiency metrics (such as“queries per second per watt” consumed by a data center system) in orderto understand the performance increases and associated power consumptionchanges associated with a candidate server configuration, and also tocompare that to metrics of a prior generation of the system that alsobeen benchmarked in the same way. Thus, year-over-year results showingthe net improvement of server configurations may be obtained. Suchperformance summaries may be generated even for minor changes in datacenter components, such as the inclusion of more processor cores oradditional memory, in order to understand whether the performance isincreasing or decreasing and whether all system resources and hardwarecomponents are actually optimized for use with the underlying workloads.In contrast, previous solutions did not include a consolidated processto look at the performance of the system and how it may respondyear-over-year.

FIG. 1 is a network diagram depicting a client-server system 100, withinwhich one example embodiment may be deployed. A networked system 102provides server-side functionality via a network 104 (e.g., the Internetor Wide Area. Network (WAN)) to one or more clients. FIG. 1 illustrates,for example, a web client 106 (e.g., a browser), and a programmaticclient 108 executing on respective client machines 110 and 112.

An Application Program Interface (API) server 114 and a web server 116are coupled to, and provide programmatic and web interfaces respectivelyto, one or more application servers 118. The application servers 118host one or more applications 120. The application servers 118 are, inturn, shown to be coupled to one or more databases servers 124 thatfacilitate access to one or more databases 126. According to variousexample embodiments, the applications 120 may be implemented on orexecuted by one or more of the modules of the data center optimizationsystem 200 illustrated in FIG. 2. While the applications 120 are shownin FIG. 1 to form part of the networked system 102, it will beappreciated that, in alternative embodiments, the applications 120 mayform part of a service that is separate and distinct from the networkedsystem 102. With some embodiments, the application servers 118 hostswhat is referred to herein as a data center optimization system 200. Thedata center optimization system 200 is described in more detail below inconjunction with FIG. 2.

Further, while the system 100 shown in FIG. 1 employs a client-serverarchitecture, the present invention is of course not limited to such anarchitecture, and could equally well find application in a distributed,or peer-to-peer, architecture system, for example. The variousapplications 120 could also be implemented as standalone softwareprograms, which do not necessarily have networking capabilities.

The web client 106 accesses the various applications 120 via the webinterface supported by the web server 116. Similarly, the programmaticclient 108 accesses the various services and functions provided by theapplications 120 via the programmatic interface provided by the APIserver 114.

FIG. 1 also illustrates a third party application 128, executing on athird party server machine 130, as having programmatic access to thenetworked system 102 via the programmatic interface provided by the APIserver 114. For example, the third party application 128 may, utilizinginformation retrieved from the networked system 102, support one or morefeatures or functions on a website hosted by the third party. The thirdparty website may, for example, provide one or more functions that aresupported by the relevant applications of the networked system 102.

Turning now to FIG. 2, a data center optimization system 200 includes abenchmarking module 202, a metric generation module 204, a reportingmodule 206, and a database 208. The modules of the data centeroptimization system 200 may be implemented on or executed by a singledevice such as a data center optimization device, or on separate devicesinterconnected via a network. The aforementioned data centeroptimization device may be, for example, one of the client machines(e.g. 110, 112) or application server(s) 118 illustrated in FIG. 1. Theoperation of each of the aforementioned modules of the data centeroptimization system 200 will now be described in greater detail inconjunction with FIG. 3.

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating an example method 300, according tovarious example embodiments. The method 300 may be performed at least inpart by, for example, the data center optimization system 200illustrated in FIG. 2 (or an apparatus having similar modules, such asclient machines 110 and 112 or application server 118 illustrated inFIG. 1). In operation 301 in FIG. 3, the benchmarking module 202 causescausing a benchmark test to be performed by on one or more components ofa computer data center system (e.g., by transmitting an instruction tothe relevant components of the data center system to execute a computerprogram instructions associated with the benchmark test). In someembodiments, the benchmark test may be at least one of a StandardPerformance Evaluation Corporation (SPEC) integer (or “SPECint”)benchmark test, SPEC power benchmark test, a queries per second (QPS)benchmark test at one or more processor loads (e.g., 10% performance,20% performance, 100% performance, etc.), a transactions per second(TPS) benchmark test at one or more processor loads, an integerprocessing power benchmark test, a latency benchmark test, a copy timeand duration benchmark test, a load time and duration benchmark test, anunzip time and duration benchmark test, and so on. Moreover, theembodiments described herein are applicable to any computingbenchmarking test known to those skilled in the art.

In operation 302 in FIG. 3, the metric generation module 204 accessestransaction information and power consumption information associatedwith the performance of the benchmark test by the computer data centersystem. In operation 303 in FIG. 3, the metric generation module 204generates service efficiency metric; value which may be used to gaugethe efficiency or optimization of the computer data center system. Insome embodiments, the metric generation module 204 may generate theservice efficiency metric value based on the transaction information andthe power consumption information accessed in operation 302. The serviceefficiency metric value may indicate a number of transactions executedvia the computer data center system during a specific time period (e.g.,one second) per unit of power (e.g., watt) consumed in executing thetransactions during the specific time period. For example, thetransactions may correspond to search queries executed by the computerdata center system while performing a benchmarking test, and the powerconsumed may correspond to a data center power consumption valueobserved at the computer data center system during the execution of thesearch queries. In such case, the metric generation module 204 maygenerate a service efficiency metric such as “queries per watt” or“queries per second per watt”. As another example, the transactions maycorrespond to postings of seller listings by the computer data centersystem while performing a benchmarking test, and the power consumed maycorrespond to a data center power consumption value observed at thecomputer data center system during the postings of the seller listings.In such case, the metric generation module 204 may generate a serviceefficiency metric such as “listings per watt” or “listings per secondper watt”. As another example, the transactions may correspond topurchase transactions executed by the computer data center system whileperforming a benchmarking test, and the power consumed may correspond toa data center power consumption value observed at the computer datacenter system during the execution of the purchase transactions. In suchcase, the metric generation module 204 may generate a service efficiencymetric such as “checkouts per watt” or “checkouts per second per watt”.The generation of service efficiency metrics by the metric generationmodule 204 is described in greater detail below. The metric generationmodule 204 may instead or in addition generate any of the other serviceefficiency metrics described below.

In operation 304 in FIG. 3, the reporting module 206 compares thegenerated service efficiency metric value to a target threshold value.In some embodiments, the reporting module 206 calculates or generatesthe target threshold value, based on a prior service efficiency metricvalue associated with performance of the same benchmark test by anotherconfiguration (e.g., a prior configuration) of the computer data centersystem. For example, if the metric generation module 204 calculates a“queries per second per watt” value in operation 303, then the reportingmodule 206 may access a prior “queries per second per watt” valuegenerated by the previous generation of the computer data center systemwhile performing the same benchmarking test that was performed inoperation 301. In some embodiments, the data center optimization system200 may display a user interface allowing a user of the data centeroptimization system 200 to specify the target value of the appropriateservice efficiency metric.

In operation 305 in FIG. 3, the reporting module 206 generates aperformance summary report indicating the generated service efficiencymetric value and indicating a result of the comparison of the generatedservice efficiency metric value to the target value. In someembodiments, the reporting module 206 may display the performancesummary report to a user via a user interface (e.g., see FIG. 4).

In some embodiments, if the reporting module 206 determines that thegenerated service efficiency metric value is less than the target value,the reporting module 206 may display a notification, via a userinterface, indicating that the computer data center system is notoptimized. Alternatively, if the reporting module 206 determines thatthe generated service efficiency metric value is equal to or greaterthan the target value, the reporting module 206 may display anotification, via a user interface, indicating that the computer datacenter system is optimized. The notification may be included in theaforementioned performance summary report, or may be a standalonenotification. In some embodiments, the notification may be included inany type of electronic message, including an e-mail, text message (e.g.,a short messaging service (SMS) message, a multimedia messaging service(MMS) message, etc.), an instant message associated with an onlinesocial network (e.g., Facebook, LinkedIn, Wechat, WhatsApp, etc.), achat message associated with an online chat service, and so on.

Example Service Efficiency Metrics

The metric generation module 204 of the data center optimization system200 is configured to collect and manage various types of operationsinformation pertaining to the operation of a computer data center systemassociated with an entity or online business. An example of an entity oronline business is a website, a widget, or an application correspondingto a client application installed on a mobile device, such as a searchengine website, an e-commerce website, a marketplace website, an app, awidget on a desktop or home screen, etc. Such online businesses may behosted by one or more application servers (e.g., application server(s)118 illustrated in FIG. 1) and/or web servers (e.g., web server 116illustrated in FIG. 1). Such online businesses may be accessible througha network (e.g., the Internet) with use of a web browser application ofa client device (e.g., client machine 110 or 112 in FIG. 1, which maycorrespond to a personal computer, a tablet, a smartphone, a mobiledevice, etc.), where the web browser application of the client devicemay access a specific Uniform Resource Locator (URL) reference linkcorresponding to the online business. Such aspects of a browserapplication that accesses web pages via a network are understood bythose skilled in the art, and shall not be described further in theinterests of brevity. While this disclosure refers throughout to anexemplary online business as an example of an entity that may utilizethe data center optimization system 200 of this disclosure, it should beunderstood that the various aspects and embodiments of this disclosureare applicable to the generation of service efficiency metrics for allentities and/or businesses, including online and offline businesses, andto online businesses accessed through technologies other than a webbrowser.

As described in more detail below, the operations information is datacollected or calculated by the metric generation module 204 thatindicates some aspect relating to the activities of the online businessor resources being consumed by the operation of the online businessduring a given time period (e.g., during performance of a benchmarkingtest), and may include: a number of transactions being executed at theonline business in a given time period; the amount of power beingconsumed by the online business's data centers (e.g., server nodes, orthe chassis of the servers) during a given time period; the amount ofenergy being consumed by the online business's data centers during agiven time period; the number of users (unique or otherwise) of theonline business during a given time period; a calculation resultindicating the amount of carbon generated (or the amount of CO₂generated or the amount of carbon emissions) due to the powerconsumption of the online business's data centers during a given timeperiod; the cost incurred from operating the online business during agiven time period; the revenue generated from operations of the onlinebusiness during a given time period; and so forth. The given timeperiods described above (also referred to as “specific time periods” or“particular time periods” throughout) may occur during the performanceof a benchmarking test, and may be default time periods oruser-specified time periods (e.g., specified based on user input to thesystem 200). Examples of time periods include 1 second, 1 hour, 24hours, 48 hours, 7 days, 1 month, etc.

FIG. 5 illustrates some of the types of observed or calculatedoperations information that may be collected and managed by the metricgeneration module 204. For example, the metric generation module 204 canreceive: transaction information 501 indicating the number oftransactions being executed at the online business in a give timeperiod; power consumption information 502 indicating the amount of powerbeing consumed by the online business's data centers during a given timeperiod (where the amount of power consumed may be expressed in units of,for example, watts (W)); energy consumption information 503 indicatingthe amount of energy being consumed by the online business's datacenters during a given time period (where the amount of energy consumedmay be expressed in units of, for example, joules (J) or kilowatt-hours(kWh)); user count information 504 indicating the number of users(unique or otherwise) of the online business during a given time period;carbon generation information 505 indicating the amount of carbongenerated (or the amount of CO₂ generated or the amount of carbonemissions) due to the power consumption of the online business's datacenters during a given time period (where the amount of carbon generatedmay be expressed in units of, for example, pounds, grams, metric tonnes,carbon dioxide equivalent (CDE), equivalent carbon dioxide (CO_(2e)),etc.); revenue information 506 indicating the revenue (e.g., in US$)generated from operations of the online business during a given timeperiod; and cost information 507 indicating the cost (e.g., in US$)incurred from operating the online business during a given time period.The given time periods described above may occur during the performanceof a benchmarking test.

As described above, the power consumption information 302 (indicatingthe amount of power being consumed by the online business's data centersduring a given time period) may be expressed in units of, for example,watts (W), wherein the watt is the international standard unit of power.The power consumption information (as well as carbon/CO₂ consumptioninformation) may be obtained from a businesses' utility power bill,which generally reflects the power consumption (as well as carbon/CO₂consumption) of various aspects of a data center, including IT load,chiller load, transformer losses, lighting administration areas, and soforth. In some cases, utility power bills from a utility power providermay use kilowatt-hours (kWh) as the basis of quantity and cost, whereinkWh is a unit for representing energy rather than power. Accordingly, ifthe system 200 receives an energy consumption value in kWh, the systemmay convert this into a power consumption value by multiplying it by onethousand and then multiplying the result by the number of hours it wasbilled against. That is, kWh=unit of energy equivalent to 1000 Watts ofpower expended for one hour of time, and Watts=kWh×1000× (if monthlythen the number of hours as billed for the month). The choice ofgenerating a service efficiency metric based on either the energyconsumption information (e.g., in kWh) or based on the power consumptioninformation (e.g., in watts) used over the course of time may be made byeach business entity, depending upon their needs and how granular theywould like make the metric to be.

As described herein, the power consumption information may be generatedby the system 200 based on power consumption statements from powerutility companies. For example, if a specific data center handles aspecific type of transaction (e.g., processing queries, posting sellerlistings, or executing purchase transactions), then the powerconsumption of that data center (e.g., as determined by the system 200based on monthly power statements from power utility companies) may beassociated with that specific type of transaction by the system 200. Onthe other hand, if a certain portion of servers in a data center handlea specific type of transaction, then the power consumption of that datacenter (e.g., as determined by the system 200 based on monthly powerstatements from power utility companies) may be associated with thatspecific type of transaction by the system 200. For example, if a thirdof the data servers in a data center execute query transactions, then athird of the power consumption of that data center may be associated bythe system 200 with executing query transactions.

In some embodiments, if a particular data server handles a mix oftransactions (e.g., queries, seller listings, and purchase transaction),then the power consumption information for that data server (which maybe obtained by the system 200 by dividing the power consumptioninformation for the corresponding data center by the number of serversin that data center) may be divided by the system 200 based on the mixof transactions being performed by that particular data server. Forexample, if a particular data server is handling an equal amount ofquery transactions and purchase transactions (as the system 200 maydetermine based on transaction/processing log reports generated by thedata server), then half of the power consumption for that data servermay be associated by the system 200 with query transactions and theother half of the power consumption information for that data server maybe associated by the system 200 with purchase transactions.

If the given time period for which power consumption information isdesired (e.g., during a corresponding to a benchmarking test) is lessthan the time interval of the power consumption information provided bythe power utility company (e.g., less than a month), then the powerconsumption information provided by the power utility company may bedivided by the system 200 based on the given time period to generate anestimate for the power consumption over the given time period. Forexample, if the relevant time period is one day in a month, then themonthly power consumption for that month may be divided by the system200 by the number of days for that month. As another example, if therelevant period is one hour, then the monthly power consumption may bedivided by the system 200 by the number of days for the month, and thendivided by the system 200 by the number of hours in each day (24). Asanother example, if the relevant period is one minute, then the monthlypower consumption may be divided by the system 200 by the number of daysfor the month, and then divided by the system 200 by the number of hoursin each day (24), and then divided by the system 200 by the number ofminutes in each hour (60). On the other hand, if the power utilitycompanies provide power consumption information for more refined periods(e.g., the power used in a given week, day, hour, minute, etc.), thenthis data may be directly utilized by the system 200 for more refinedresults.

In some embodiments, cost (e.g., cost information 507) corresponds tothe total dollar value of the facility power bill for the billing cycle.The other key value that can be derived from the utility power bill isthe monetary cost for the power over the course of the billing cycle tosupport the data center. This allows the service value to be delineatedin terms of the Operating Expenses to deliver the service. Thetechniques described above for calculating the power consumptionassociated with given time periods and associated with specific types oftransactions (e.g., based on power consumption information in powerbills from power utility companies) may be similarly applied by thesystem 200 to calculate the power costs associated with given timeperiods and associated with specific types of transactions (e.g., basedon power cost information in power bills from power utility companies).

The carbon generation information 505 may be expressed using variousunits understood by those skilled in the art, such as pounds, grams,metric tonnes, carbon dioxide equivalent (CDH), equivalent carbondioxide (CO_(2e)), and so forth. The amount of carbon generated isindirectly dependent on the amount of power consumed by the onlinebusiness's data centers, since the production of power associated withthe workload of the data centers generally requires power plants thatburn substances such as coal, thereby producing the associated carbon.

As described herein, the system 200 may obtain power consumptioninformation and other information (e.g., carbon/CO₂ consumption,monetary cost for power, etc.) from reports from power utilitycompanies. For example, the system 200 may access a server or databaseassociated with the power utility companies via a network in order torequest and obtain the relevant information, or the system 200 may scanpower consumption reports (e.g., received via email) from the powerutility companies for the relevant information and extract the relevantinformation therefrom.

The metric generation module 204 may also collect a more specific subsetof operations information, pertaining to the execution of specific typesof services or transactions at data centers associated with an onlinebusiness. For example, at the highest level, a marketplace website (suchas eBay.com) may offer three primary services or transactions to theircustomers—Search, Sell, and Buy. Thus, specific types of services ortransactions offered by a online business may include, for example,search transactions (such as search queries received from a user of theonline business), seller listing transactions (such as when users of theonline business post items for sale on the website of the onlinebusiness), and purchase transactions or “purchases” (such as when usersof the online business proceed to checkout or buy an item for sale onthe website of the online business). This list of services ortransactions is merely exemplary, and it should be understood thatdifferent businesses and online websites may, of course, be associatedwith other types of online and offline services or transactions (such asrefunds, exchanges, queries, feedback, uploads, downloads, views, accessevents, updates, refreshes, etc.).

For each type of transaction executed at an online business, the metricgeneration module 204 may collect the various aforementioned types ofoperations information, as they pertain to the execution of that type oftransaction at the online business, including: the number of that typeof transaction being executed via the online business in a give timeperiod; the amount of power being consumed by the online business's datacenters in executing that type of transaction during a given timeperiod; the amount of energy being consumed by the online business'sdata centers in executing that type of transaction during a given timeperiod; the number of users (unique or otherwise) of the online businessthat are associated with that type of transaction during a given timeperiod; the amount of carbon generated (or the amount of CO₂ generatedor the amount of carbon emissions) due to the power consumption of theonline business's data centers in executing that type of transactionduring a given time period; the cost incurred in performing that type oftransaction during a given time period, the revenue generated from thattype of transaction during a given time period; and so forth. The giventime periods described above may occur during the performance of abenchmarking test.

For example, FIG. 6 illustrates an example of a table 600) or similardata structure managed by the metric generation module 204. Asillustrated in FIG. 6, the table 600 lists multiple types of onlineservices or transactions that are executed at a particular onlinebusiness, including search queries, seller listings, and purchasetransactions. For each type of transaction, the table 600 lists therespective data centers (or particular service devices, computingdevices, etc.) that are involved with the processing of thosetransactions, where this information may be detected automatically orspecified via user input (e.g. the user input of an IT administrator ofthe online business).

Moreover, for each type of transaction, the table 600 lists variousoperations information including: the number of that type of transactionbeing executed via the corresponding data centers of the online businessin a give time period; the amount of power being consumed by thecorresponding data centers of the online business while executing thattype of transaction during a given time period; the amount of energybeing consumed by the corresponding data centers of the online businesswhile executing that type of transaction during a given time period; thenumber of users (unique or otherwise) of the online business that areassociated with that type of transaction during a given time period; theamount of carbon generated (or the amount of CO₂ generated or the amountof carbon emissions) due to the power consumption of the correspondingdata centers of the online business while executing that type oftransaction during a given time period; the operating cost incurred bythe corresponding data centers of the online business while performingthat type of transaction during a given time period; the onlinebusiness's revenue generated from that type of transaction during agiven time period; and so forth. The table 600 also lists the totalamounts of each piece of operations information (e.g., number oftransactions, power consumed, energy consumed, number of users, etc.)for all the types of transactions being executed at the online business.The given time periods described above may occur during the performanceof a benchmarking test.

The metric generation module 204 may collect the various operationsinformation described above from various sources, including via userinput (e.g., from IT administrators and engineers associated with theonline business). In the case of various type of operations information(such as number of transactions, number of users, amount of powerconsumed, etc.), the metric generation module 204 may be able toautomatically collect this information from web servers and data centersconnected to the system 200, as understood by those skilled in the art.Further, since the information in table 600 identifies which datacenters perform each type of service/transaction (e.g. data centers A, Gand I handle search query transactions), the power utility bill forthose particular data centers (e.g. data centers A, G and I) may be usedby the system 200 to determine the power consumption, energyconsumption, operating cost and carbon generation for the correspondingtransactions (e.g., search query transactions). The power consumptioninformation for a particular set of data centers may be referred to as a“data center power consumption value”. The metric generation module 204may organize such information into a data structure, such as the datastructure 600 illustrated in FIG. 6, where such as data structure may bestored at, for example the database 208.

Based on the various types of operations information collected andmanaged by the metric generation module 204, the metric generationmodule 204 is able to process the operations information in order togenerate various types of service efficiency metrics. Such serviceefficiency metrics may provide a useful guide as to the efficiency ofthe online business, as described in more detail below.

According to various exemplary embodiments, the metric generation module204 is configured to collect transaction information and powerconsumption information of data centers associated with an onlinebusiness, and the metric generation module 204 is configured to generatea service efficiency metric referred to as “transactions per watt”.

The transaction information is a piece of operations information that iscollected by the metric generation module 204 and indicates a totalnumber of transactions being executed at data centers associated withthe online business, including transactions of various types such assearch queries, seller listings/postings, and purchase transactions. Forexample, with reference to the operations information of table 600, themetric generation module 204 collects transaction information indicatingthat 366 million transactions have been executed at data centersassociated with the online business in a given time period (e.g., oneday). The power consumption information collected by the metricgeneration module 204 indicates an amount of power consumed by datacenters associated with the online business while executing theaforementioned 366 million transactions (including transactions ofvarious types such as search queries, seller listings/postings, andpurchase transactions) in the given time period. For example, withreference to the operations information of table 400, the metricgeneration module 204 collects power consumption information indicatingthat 13.4 megawatts have been consumed by data centers associated withthe online business while executing the aforementioned 366 milliontransactions in the given time period. The time periods described abovemay occur during the performance of a benchmarking test.

The metric generation module 204 is configured to generate a serviceefficiency metric based on the transaction information and powerconsumption information. In particular, the metric generation module 204is configured to generate a service efficiency metric indicating anumber of transactions executed at data centers associated with theonline business during a specific time period (e.g., during performanceof a benchmarking test), per unit of power consumed by operating theonline business during the specific time period. For example, withreference to the operations information of table 600, the metricgeneration module 204 may divide the transaction information (366Million transactions) by the power consumption information (e.g., 13.4Megawatts) to generate a service efficiency metric of 27.29 transactionsper watt. This indicates that, during the given time period, 27.29transactions were performed for each watt of power consumed by the datacenters.

While the service efficiency metric of transactions per watt describedabove was generated based on the total number of transactions ofdifferent types executed at the online business (e.g., duringperformance of a benchmarking test), the metric generation module 204may calculate a service efficiency metric of transactions per watt foreach type of transaction executed at the online business (e.g., duringperformance of a benchmarking test).

For example, the metric generation module 204 is configured to collecttransaction information indicating a total number of a particular typeof transaction (e.g., search queries) being executed at data centersassociated with the online business (e.g., during performance of abenchmarking test). For example, with reference to the operationsinformation of table 400, the metric generation module 204 collectstransaction information indicating that 351 million search querytransactions have been executed at data centers associated with theonline business in a given time period (e.g., one day). The metricgeneration module 204 is also configured to collect power consumptioninformation indicating an amount of power consumed by data centersassociated with the online business while executing the aforementionedparticular type of transaction (e.g., search queries) in the given timeperiod. For example, with reference to the operations information oftable 400, the metric generation module 204 collects power consumptioninformation indicating that 9.8 megawatts have been consumed by datacenters associated with the online business while executing theparticular type of transaction (e.g., the aforementioned 351 millionsearch queries) in the given time period (e.g., during performance of abenchmarking test).

Thereafter, the metric generation module 204 is configured to generate aservice efficiency metric for each particular type of transaction (e.g.,search queries), based on the transaction information and powerconsumption information for the particular type of transaction. That is,the metric generation module 204 is configured to generate a serviceefficiency metric indicating how many of the particular transactionshave been executed at data centers associated with the online businessduring a specific time period (e.g., during performance of abenchmarking test), per unit of power consumed by the online business'sdata centers in executing those particular transactions during thespecific time period. For example, with reference to the exemplaryoperations information of table 400, the metric generation module 204may divide the transaction information (i.e., 351 million searches) bythe power consumption information (i.e., 9.8 Megawatts) to generate aservice efficiency metric of 35.61 transactions per watt for searchquery transactions (which may also be referred to as 35.61 searches perwatt or queries per watt). This indicates that, during the given timeperiod (e.g., during performance of a benchmarking test), 35.61 searchquery transactions were performed, for each watt of power consumed bythe data centers in executing the search query transactions during thegiven time period. If the given time period is one second, then theaforementioned metric of “queries per watt” may also be referred to as“queries per second, per watt”.

In a similar manner, the metric generation module 204 may generate aservice efficiency metric of 6.77 transactions per watt for sellerlisting transactions (which may also be referred to as 6.77 listings perwatt). This indicates that, during the given time period (e.g., duringperformance of a benchmarking test), 6.77 seller listing transactionswere performed, for each watt of power consumed by the data centers inexecuting the seller listing transactions. And in a similar manner, themetric generation module 204 may generate a service efficiency metric of2.49 transactions per watt for purchase/checkout transactions (which mayalso be referred to as 2.49 checkouts per watt). This indicates that,during the given time period (e.g., during performance of a benchmarkingtest), 2.49 purchase transactions were performed, for each watt of powerconsumed by the data centers in executing the purchase transactions.

The metric generation module 204 may also display one or more generatedservice efficiency metrics on a display module connected to the datacenter optimization system 200. For example, FIG. 7 illustrates anexample user interface screen 700 displayed on a display module (e.g.,display screen or monitor) connected to the data center optimizationsystem 200. User interface screen 700 displays various serviceefficiency metrics of “transactions per watt” generated by the metricgeneration module 204, based on the operations information in table 600.

The user interface 700 of FIG. 7 illustrates the user consumption ofeach type of service or transaction (including search queries, sellerlistings and purchase checkouts), and the corresponding wattage todeliver it over a 24-hour period. For example, area 701 of the userinterface 700 illustrates that on a given day there were 351 millionsearch queries performed by active users, and these searches required9.8 Megawatts of power to be completed. Thus, the metric generationmodule 204 determines that on that day there was an average of 35.61searches per watt. Similarly, area 702 of the user interface 700illustrates that on a given day there were 8.3 million new listings (ornew items for sale on marketplace website), and the posting of theselistings required 1.2 Megawatts of power. Thus, the metric generationmodule 204 determines that there was an average of 6.77 listings perwatt. Similarly, area 703 of the user interface 700 illustrates that ona given day there were 5.7 million checkouts or purchases, and theexecution of these purchases required 2.2 Megawatts of power. Thus, themetric generation module 204 determines that there were 2.49 checkoutsper watt in that 24-hour period.

To generate the total “transactions per watt”, the metric generationmodule 204 may effectively combine each type of service/transaction(including search queries, seller listings, and purchases), and divideit by the total watts consumed. As illustrated in area 704 of the userinterface 700, in that 24-hour period, the online business delivered 366million transactions and consumed 13.4 Megawatts of power, effectivelydelivering 27.29 transactions per watt.

Thus, according to various exemplary embodiments, a data centeroptimization system generates one or more metrics that may be used totrack various aspects of an entity or system. For example, the datacenter optimization system of this disclosure may generate a serviceefficiency metric of transactions per watt of electrical power. Thismetric tracks how efficiently online and offline businesses (such asmarketplace websites) deliver core services to customers. In particular,the system 200 produces the “transactions per watt” metric based on howcustomers consume services of the business (actual user transactions)and the total amount of power to deliver those services (watts). Anexample of a transaction is an instance of transmitting data in responseto a user interaction received via a network, such as: providing searchresults in response to a received query, providing an interface used tocollect data from a user in response to a request, providing aconfirmation message in response to receiving the collected data, and soforth. Thus, all changes in the infrastructure of the business (e.g.,data center consolidation, technology refresh, code optimization, etc.)will either increase or decrease “transactions per watt”, or the numberof transactions performed per watt of power consumed by the data center.

For example, a marketplace website (such as eBay.com) may offer threeprimary services or transactions to their customers—Search, Buy, andSell. Each of these services requires IT equipment (servers, storage,networking, etc.) and physical data center infrastructure. Thisinfrastructure consumes wattage to complete each transaction from a userrequest. Thus, the system 200 generates the service efficiency metric“transactions per watt” that provides a methodology that simplifies themeasurement of this user consumption. The higher the transactions in the“transactions per watt” service efficiency metric, the more efficientlythe services are being delivered. In essence, the “transactions perwatt” efficiency metric of a company's infrastructure may be treated asanalogous to the “miles per gallon” efficiency metric for cars. Likecars, data centers have different designs, redundancy, and operationalcapabilities, and using the service efficiency metric of thisdisclosure, the efficiency of each of these elements may be measured byhow many transactions may be performed (analogous to how many “miles”may be driven) for every watt of power (analogous to every “gallon offuel”) consumed by the data center.

Accordingly, during operations, the service efficiency metric generatedby the system 200 may be used to help drive down costs and increaseutilization of the services provided by an online business. For example,a business may set a target to baseline a “transactions per watt”—andcorresponding “$ per watt” (described below)—to expose how efficientlythe business is utilizing its infrastructure to deliver services forcustomers, and ultimately what that cost per watt is to deliver it. Fromthere, the business may set targets to increase the transactions perwatt, decrease the cost per watt, and so forth.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating an example method 800, according tovarious embodiments. The method 800 may be performed at least in partby, for example, the data center optimization system 200 illustrated inFIG. 2 (or a service efficiency management device having similarmodules, such as client machines 110 and 112 or application server 112illustrated in FIG. 1). In 801, the system receives transactioninformation, and in 802 the system receives power consumptioninformation. In 803, the system generates a service efficiency metric oftransactions per watt, based on the transaction information and powerconsumption information, the service efficiency metric of transactionsper watt indicating a number of transactions executed via data centersassociated with the online business during a specific time period (e.g.,during performance of a benchmarking test), per unit of power consumedin executing the transactions during the specific time period.

According to various exemplary embodiments described below, the metricgeneration module is configured to generate other service efficiencymetrics based on the other types of operations information. That is, themetric generation module 204 may receive at least two types ofoperations information, such as two of the various types of operationsinformation illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, including: number oftransactions, power consumption, energy consumption, number of users,cost, revenue, and carbon generated. Based on these two types ofoperations information, the metric generation module 204 may generatevarious types of service efficiency metrics.

More specifically, using the example of the operations information intable 600 of FIG. 6, for a given type of service/transaction (e.g.,search queries, seller listing, purchases, all of the above), the metricgeneration module 204 may obtain a first operations value for thespecific type of transaction (e.g. number of transactions, powerconsumption in executing the transactions, energy consumption inexecuting the transactions, number of users performing the transactions,revenue generated as a result of the transactions, cost of performingthe transactions, and carbon generated in performing the transactions),and a second operations value for the specific type of transaction (e.g.number of transactions, power consumption in executing the transactions,energy consumption in executing the transactions, number of usersperforming the transactions, revenue generated as a result of thetransactions, cost of performing the transactions, and carbon generatedin performing the transactions). Thereafter, the metric generationmodule 204 may divide the first operations value by the secondoperations value, in order to generate service efficiency metric.

Examples of service efficiency metrics include performance-based serviceefficiency metrics that track and reflect performance, such as:Transactions per Watt (TpW), Transactions per User (TpU), and Watts perUser (WpU). Other examples of service efficiency metrics includecost-based service efficiency metrics that track and reflect cost, suchas Cost per Watt ($pW), Cost per User ($pU), Cost per Transaction ($pT).Other examples of service efficiency metrics include revenue-basedservice efficiency metrics that track and reflect revenue, such asRevenue per Watt (RpW), Revenue per Transaction (RpT), and Revenue perUser (RpU). Other examples of service efficiency metrics includeenvironmental-based service efficiency metrics that track and reflectenvironmental impact and/or carbon generation, such as Carbon per Watt(CpW), Carbon per Transaction (CpT), Carbon per User (CpU).

Other examples of service efficiency metrics include Transactions perDollar Cost (Tp$), Transactions per Dollar Revenue (TpR), Transactionsper Unit of Carbon generated (TpC), Transactions per Unit of Energy(TpE), Watts consumed per Transaction (WpT), Watts consumed per Dollarof Cost (Wp$), Watts consumed per Dollar of Revenue (TpR), Wattsconsumed per Unit of Carbon generated (TpC), Watts per Unit of Energy(WpE), Users per Transaction (UpT), Users per Watt consumed (UpW), Usersper Dollar of Cost (Up$), Users per Dollar of Revenue (UpR), Users perUnit of Carbon generated (UpC), Users per Unit of Energy (UpE), Cost perDollar of Revenue (CpR), Cost per Unit of Carbon generated ($pC), Costper Unit of Energy ($pE), Revenue per Unit of Cost (Rp$), Revenue perUnit of Carbon generated (RpC), Revenue per Unit of Energy (RpE), Carbongenerated per Dollar of Cost (Cp$), Carbon generated per Dollar ofRevenue (CpR), Carbon per Unit of Energy (CpE), Energy per Transaction(EpT), Energy per Watt (EpW), Energy per user (EpU), Energy per Dollarof Cost (Ep$), Energy per Dollar of Revenue (EpR), Energy per Unit ofCarbon generated (EpC).

As described above, each of the aforementioned metrics may be calculatedbased only on specific types of service/transactions being executed atdata centers associated with an online business (e.g., duringperformance of a benchmarking test), or based on some combination or allthe transactions being executed at data centers associated with theonline business (e.g., during performance of a benchmarking test).

In some embodiments, the metric generation module 204 may generate aservice efficiency metric of “transactions per user”. For example, themetric generation module 204 receives transaction information and usercount information, and the metric generation module 204 generates aservice efficiency metric of transactions per user, based on thetransaction information and the user count information, the serviceefficiency metric of transactions per user indicating a number oftransactions executed via data centers associated with the onlinebusiness during a specific time period (e.g., during performance of abenchmarking test), per user of the online business during the specifictime period.

In some embodiments, the metric generation module 204 may generate aservice efficiency metric of “watts per user”. For example, the metricgeneration module 204 receives power consumption information and usercount information, and the metric generation module 204 generates aservice efficiency metric of watts per user, based on the powerconsumption information and user count information, the serviceefficiency metric of watts per user indicating an amount of powerconsumed by operations of data centers associated with the onlinebusiness during a specific time period (e.g., during performance of abenchmarking test), per user of the online business during the specifictime period.

In some embodiments, the metric generation module 204 may generate aservice efficiency metric of “cost per transaction”, “cost per watt”, or“cost per user”. For example, the metric generation module 204 receivestransaction information, power consumption information, user countinformation, and operating cost information, and the metric generationmodule 204 generates a service efficiency metric of cost pertransaction, based on the operating cost information and transactioninformation, the service efficiency metric of cost per transactionindicating a cost in operating data centers associated with the onlinebusiness during a specific time period (e.g., during performance of abenchmarking test), per transaction executed at data centers associatedwith the online business during the specific time period. The metricgeneration module 204 may generate a service efficiency metric of costper watt, based on the operating cost information and power consumptioninformation, the service efficiency metric of cost per watt indicating acost in operating data centers associated with the online businessduring a specific time period (e.g., during performance of abenchmarking test), per unit of power consumed in operating data centersassociated with the online business during the specific time period. Themetric generation module 204 may generate a service efficiency metric ofcost per user, based on the operating cost information and user countinformation, the service efficiency metric of cost per user indicating acost in operating data centers associated with the online businessduring a specific time period (e.g., during performance of abenchmarking test), per user of the online business during the specifictime period.

In some embodiments, the metric generation module 204 may generate aservice efficiency metric of “revenue per transaction”, “revenue perwatt”, or “revenue per user”. For example, the metric generation module204 receives transaction information, power consumption information,user count information, and revenue information. The metric generationmodule 204 generates a service efficiency metric of revenue pertransaction, based on the revenue information and transactioninformation, the service efficiency metric of revenue per transactionindicating revenue in operating the online business during a specifictime period (e.g., during performance of a benchmarking test), pertransaction executed at data centers associated with the online businessduring the specific time period. The metric generation module 204generates a service efficiency metric of revenue per watt, based on therevenue information and power consumption information, the serviceefficiency metric of revenue per watt indicating revenue in operatingthe online business during a specific time period (e.g., duringperformance of a benchmarking test), per unit of power consumed inoperating data centers associated with the online business during thespecific time period. The metric generation module 204 generates aservice efficiency metric of revenue per user, based on the revenueinformation and user count information, the service efficiency metric ofrevenue per user indicating revenue in operating the online businessduring a specific time period (e.g., during performance of abenchmarking test), per user of the online business during the specifictime period.

In some embodiments, the metric generation module 204 may generate aservice efficiency metric of “carbon per transaction”, “carbon perwatt”, or “carbon per user”. For example, the metric generation module204 receives transaction information, power consumption information,user count information, and carbon generation information. The metricgeneration module 204 generates a service efficiency metric of carbonper transaction, based on the carbon generation information andtransaction information, the service efficiency metric of carbon pertransaction indicating an amount of carbon generated due to powerconsumption of the online business's data centers during a specific timeperiod (e.g., during performance of a benchmarking test), pertransaction executed at data centers associated with the online businessduring the specific time period. The metric generation module 204generates a service efficiency metric of carbon per watt, based on thecarbon generation information and power consumption information, theservice efficiency metric of carbon per watt indicating an amount ofcarbon generated due to power consumption of the online business's datacenters during a specific time period (e.g., during performance of abenchmarking test), per unit of power consumed in operating data centersassociated with the online business during the specific time period. Themetric generation module 204 generates a service efficiency metric ofcarbon per user, based on the carbon generation information and usercount information, the service efficiency metric of carbon per userindicating an amount of carbon generated due to power consumption of theonline business's data centers during a specific time period (e.g.,during performance of a benchmarking test), per user of the onlinebusiness during the specific time period.

According to various exemplary embodiments, the metric generation module204 is also configured to analyze one of the service efficiency metricsdescribed in this disclosure (e.g., transactions per watt), in order tooutput a recommendation for improving the service efficiency metric. Forexample, if the metric generation module detects that the given serviceefficiency metric drops below a predetermined threshold (which may beinputted by a user of the system 200), the metric generation module 204may output a recommendation to improve a value of the service efficiencymetric. For example, the recommendation may be: consolidating pluraldata center operations associated with the online business; replacingspecific equipment associated with the online business; or optimizing apiece of software code associated with the online business.

Example Mobile Device

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating the mobile device 900, accordingto an example embodiment. The mobile device may correspond to, forexample, one or more client machines or application servers. One or moreof the modules of the system 200 illustrated in FIG. 2 may beimplemented on or executed by the mobile device 900. The mobile device900 may include a processor 910. The processor 910 may be any of avariety of different types of commercially available processors suitablefor mobile devices (for example, an XScale architecture microprocessor,a Microprocessor without Interlocked Pipeline Stages (MIPS) architectureprocessor, or another type of processor). A memory 920, such as a RandomAccess Memory (RAM), a Flash memory, or other type of memory, istypically accessible to the processor 910. The memory 920 may be adaptedto store an operating system (OS) 930, as well as application programs940, such as a mobile location enabled application that may providelocation based services to a user. The processor 910 may be coupled,either directly or via appropriate intermediary hardware, to a display950 and to one or more input/output (I/O) devices 960, such as a keypad,a touch panel sensor, a microphone, and the like. Similarly, in someembodiments, the processor 910 may be coupled to a transceiver 970 thatinterfaces with an antenna 990. The transceiver 970 may be configured toboth transmit and receive cellular network signals, wireless datasignals, or other types of signals via the antenna 990, depending on thenature of the mobile device 900. Further, in some configurations, a GPSreceiver 980 may also make use of the antenna 990 to receive GPSsignals.

Modules, Components and Logic

Certain embodiments are described herein as including logic or a numberof components, modules, or mechanisms. Modules may constitute eithersoftware modules (e.g., code embodied (1) on a non-transitorymachine-readable medium or (2) in a transmission signal) orhardware-implemented modules. A hardware-implemented module is atangible unit capable of performing certain operations and may beconfigured or arranged in a certain manner. In example embodiments, oneor more computer systems (e.g., a standalone, client or server computersystem) or one or more processors may be configured by software (e.g.,an application or application portion) as a hardware-implemented modulethat operates to perform certain operations as described herein.

In various embodiments, a hardware-implemented module may be implementedmechanically or electronically. For example, a hardware-implementedmodule may comprise dedicated circuitry or logic that is permanentlyconfigured (e.g., as a special-purpose processor, such as a fieldprogrammable gate array (FPGA) or an application-specific integratedcircuit (AMC)) to perform certain operations. A hardware-implementedmodule may also comprise programmable logic or circuitry (e.g., asencompassed within a general-purpose processor or other programmableprocessor) that is temporarily configured by software to perform certainoperations. It will be appreciated that the decision to implement ahardware-implemented module mechanically, in dedicated and permanentlyconfigured circuitry, or in temporarily configured circuitry (e.g.,configured by software) may be driven by cost and time considerations.

Accordingly, the term “hardware-implemented module” should be understoodto encompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physicallyconstructed, permanently configured (e.g., hardwired) or temporarily ortransitorily configured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a certainmanner and/or to perform certain operations described herein.Considering embodiments in which hardware-implemented modules aretemporarily configured (e.g., programmed), each of thehardware-implemented modules need not be configured or instantiated atany one instance in time. For example, where the hardware-implementedmodules comprise a general-purpose processor configured using software,the general-purpose processor may be configured as respective differenthardware-implemented modules at different times. Software mayaccordingly configure a processor, for example, to constitute aparticular hardware-implemented module at one instance of time and toconstitute a different hardware-implemented module at a differentinstance of time.

Hardware-implemented modules can provide information to, and receiveinformation from, other hardware-implemented modules. Accordingly, thedescribed hardware-implemented modules may be regarded as beingcommunicatively coupled. Where multiple of such hardware-implementedmodules exist contemporaneously, communications may be achieved throughsignal transmission (e.g., over appropriate circuits and buses) thatconnect the hardware-implemented modules. In embodiments in whichmultiple hardware-implemented modules are configured or instantiated atdifferent times, communications between such hardware-implementedmodules may be achieved, for example, through the storage and retrievalof information in memory structures to which the multiplehardware-implemented modules have access. For example, onehardware-implemented module may perform an operation, and store theoutput of that operation in a memory device to which it iscommunicatively coupled. A further hardware-implemented module may then,at a later time, access the memory device to retrieve and process thestored output. Hardware-implemented modules may also initiatecommunications with input or output devices, and can operate on aresource (e.g., a collection of information).

The various operations of example methods described herein may beperformed, at least partially, by one or more processors that aretemporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured toperform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanentlyconfigured, such processors may constitute processor-implemented modulesthat operate to perform one or more operations or functions. The modulesreferred to herein may, in some example embodiments, compriseprocessor-implemented modules.

Similarly, the methods described herein may be at least partiallyprocessor-implemented. For example, at least some of the operations of amethod may be performed by one or processors or processor-implementedmodules. The performance of certain of the operations may be distributedamong the one or more processors, not only residing within a singlemachine, but deployed across a number of machines. In some exampleembodiments, the processor or processors may be located in a singlelocation (e.g., within a home environment, an office environment or as aserver farm), while in other embodiments the processors may bedistributed across a number of locations.

The one or more processors may also operate to support performance ofthe relevant operations in a “cloud computing” environment or as a“software as a service” (SaaS). For example, at least some of theoperations may be performed by a group of computers (as examples ofmachines including processors), these operations being accessible via anetwork (e.g., the Internet) and via one or more appropriate interfaces(e.g., Application Program Interfaces (APIs).)

Electronic Apparatus and System

Example embodiments may be implemented in digital electronic circuitry,or in computer hardware, firmware, software, or in combinations of them.Example embodiments may be implemented using a computer program product,e.g., a computer program tangibly embodied in an information carrier,e.g., in a machine-readable medium for execution by, or to control theoperation of, data processing apparatus, e.g., a programmable processor,a computer, or multiple computers.

A computer program can be written in any form of programming language,including compiled or interpreted languages, and it can be deployed inany form, including as a stand-alone program or as a module, subroutine,or other unit suitable for use in a computing environment. A computerprogram can be deployed to be executed on one computer or on multiplecomputers at one site or distributed across multiple sites andinterconnected by a communication network.

In example embodiments, operations may be performed by one or moreprogrammable processors executing a computer program to performfunctions by operating on input data and generating output. Methodoperations can also be performed by, and apparatus of exampleembodiments may be implemented as, special purpose logic circuitry,e.g., a field programmable gate array (FPGA) or an application-specificintegrated circuit (ASIC).

The computing system can include clients and servers. A client andserver are generally remote from each other and typically interactthrough a communication network. The relationship of client and serverarises by virtue of computer programs running on the respectivecomputers and having a client-server relationship to each other. Inembodiments deploying a programmable computing system, it will beappreciated that that both hardware and software architectures requireconsideration. Specifically, it will be appreciated that the choice ofwhether to implement certain functionality in permanently configuredhardware (e.g., an ASIC), in temporarily configured hardware (e.g., acombination of software and a programmable processor), or a combinationof permanently and temporarily configured hardware may be a designchoice. Below are set out hardware (e.g., machine) and softwarearchitectures that may be deployed, in various example embodiments.

Example Machine Architecture and Machine-Readable Medium

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of machine in the example form of a computersystem 1000 within which instructions, for causing the machine toperform any one or more of the methodologies discussed herein, may beexecuted. In alternative embodiments, the machine operates as astandalone device or may be connected (e.g., networked) to othermachines. In a networked deployment, the machine may operate in thecapacity of a server or a client machine in server-client networkenvironment, or as a peer machine in a peer-to-peer (or distributed)network environment. The machine may be a personal computer (PC), atablet PC, a set-top box (STB), a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), acellular telephone, a web appliance, a network router, switch or bridge,or any machine capable of executing instructions (sequential orotherwise) that specify actions to be taken by that machine. Further,while only a single machine is illustrated, the term “machine” shallalso be taken to include any collection of machines that individually orjointly execute a set (or multiple sets) of instructions to perform anyone or more of the methodologies discussed herein.

The example computer system 1000 includes a processor 1002 (e.g., acentral processing unit (CPU), a graphics processing unit (GPU) orboth), a main memory 1004 and a static memory 1006, which communicatewith each other via a bus 1008. The computer system 1000 may furtherinclude a video display unit 1010 (e.g., a liquid crystal display (LCD)or a cathode ray tube (CRT)). The computer system 1000 also includes analphanumeric input device 1012 (e.g., a keyboard or a touch-sensitivedisplay screen), a user interface (UI) navigation device 1014 (e.g., amouse), a disk drive unit 1016, a signal generation device 1018 (e.g., aspeaker) and a network interface device 1020.

Machine-Readable Medium

The disk drive unit 1016 includes a machine-readable medium 1022 onwhich is stored one or more sets of instructions and data structures(e.g., software) 1024 embodying or utilized by any one or more of themethodologies or functions described herein. The instructions 1024 mayalso reside, completely or at least partially, within the main memory1004 and/or within the processor 1002 during execution thereof by thecomputer system 1000, the main memory 1004 and the processor 1002 alsoconstituting machine-readable media.

While the machine-readable medium 1022 is shown in an example embodimentto be a single medium, the term “machine-readable medium” may include asingle medium or multiple media (e.g., a centralized or distributeddatabase, and/or associated caches and servers) that store the one ormore instructions or data structures. The term “machine-readable medium”shall also be taken to include any tangible medium that is capable ofstoring, encoding or carrying instructions for execution by the machineand that cause the machine to perform any one or more of themethodologies of the present invention, or that is capable of storing,encoding or carrying data structures utilized by or associated with suchinstructions. The term “machine-readable medium” shall accordingly betaken to include, but not be limited to, solid-state memories, andoptical and magnetic media. Specific examples of machine-readable mediainclude non-volatile memory, including by way of example semiconductormemory devices, e.g., Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EPROM),Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory (EEPROM), and flashmemory devices; magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removabledisks; magneto-optical disks; and CD-ROM and DVD-ROM disks.

Transmission Medium

The instructions 1024 may further be transmitted or received over acommunications network 1026 using a transmission medium. Theinstructions 1024 may be transmitted using the network interface device1020 and any one of a number of well-known transfer protocols (e.g.,HTTP). Examples of communication networks include a local area network(“LAN”), a wide area network (“WAN”), the Internet, mobile telephonenetworks, Plain Old Telephone (POTS) networks, and wireless datanetworks (e.g., WiFi, LTE, and WiMAX networks). The term “transmissionmedium” shall be taken to include any intangible medium that is capableof storing, encoding or carrying instructions for execution by themachine, and includes digital or analog communications signals or otherintangible media to facilitate communication of such software.

Although an embodiment has been described with reference to specificexample embodiments, it will be evident that various modifications andchanges may be made to these embodiments without departing from thebroader spirit and scope of the invention. Accordingly, thespecification and drawings are to be regarded in an illustrative ratherthan a restrictive sense. The accompanying drawings that form a parthereof, show by way of illustration, and not of limitation, specificembodiments in which the subject matter may be practiced. Theembodiments illustrated are described in sufficient detail to enablethose skilled in the art to practice the teachings disclosed herein.Other embodiments may be utilized and derived therefrom, such thatstructural and logical substitutions and changes may be made withoutdeparting from the scope of this disclosure. This Detailed Description,therefore, is not to be taken in a limiting sense, and the scope ofvarious embodiments is defined only by the appended claims, along withthe full range of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

Such embodiments of the inventive subject matter may be referred toherein, individually and/or collectively, by the term “invention” merelyfor convenience and without intending to voluntarily limit the scope ofthis application to any single invention or inventive concept if morethan one is in fact disclosed. Thus, although specific embodiments havebeen illustrated and described herein, it should be appreciated that anyarrangement calculated to achieve the same purpose may be substitutedfor the specific embodiments shown. This disclosure is intended to coverany and all adaptations or variations of various embodiments.Combinations of the above embodiments, and other embodiments notspecifically described herein, will be apparent to those of skill in theart upon reviewing the above description.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: accessing transaction information and power consumption information associated with transaction execution by a computer data center system; generating, using one or more hardware processors, a service efficiency metric value based on the transaction information and the power consumption information, the service efficiency metric value indicating an efficiency of the computer data center system during a specific time period; and creating a server system using a combination of one or more processing components and one or more memory components, a configuration of the server system being defined to increase the service efficiency metric value.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the service efficiency metric value is based on a performance of a benchmark test by the computer data center system.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein the transaction information is one or more of a number of transactions being executed, an amount of power being consumed, a number of users, a calculation result indicating an amount of carbon generated due to the transaction execution, a cost incurred from operating the computer data center system, and revenue generated.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein the service efficiency metric value is transactions per watt, transactions per user, watts per user, cost per watt, cost per user, cost per transaction, revenue per watt, revenue per transaction, revenue per user, carbon per watt, carbon per transaction, carbon per user, transactions per dollar cost, transactions per dollar revenue, transactions per unit of carbon generated, transactions per unit of energy, watts consumed per transaction, watts consumed per dollar of cost, watts consumed per dollar of revenue, watts consumed per unit of carbon generated, watts per unit of energy, users per transaction, users per watt consumed, users per dollar of cost, users per dollar of revenue, users per unit of carbon generated, users per unit of energy, cost per dollar of revenue, cost per unit of carbon generated, cost per unit of energy, revenue per unit of cost, revenue per unit of carbon generated, revenue per unit of energy, carbon generated per dollar of cost, carbon generated per dollar of revenue, carbon per unit of energy, energy per transaction, energy per watt, energy per user, energy per dollar of cost, energy per dollar of revenue, and energy per unit of carbon generated.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: generating a target threshold value based on a prior service efficiency metric value associated with a performance of a benchmark test by another configuration of the computer data center system.
 6. The method of claim 5, further comprising: determining that the generated service efficiency metric value is less than the target threshold value; and displaying a notification, via a user interface, indicating that the computer data center system is not optimized.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein transactions include search queries executed by the computer data center system, and power consumed includes a data center power consumption value observed at the computer data center system during the execution of the search queries.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein transactions include postings of seller listings by the computer data center system, and power consumed includes a data center power consumption value observed at the computer data center system during the postings of the seller listings.
 9. The method of claim 1, wherein transactions include purchase transactions executed by the computer data center system, and power consumed includes a data center power consumption value observed at the computer data center system during the execution of the purchase transactions.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein the specific time period is one second, and wherein a unit of power is watts.
 11. The method of claim 1, further comprising: comparing the generated service efficiency metric value to a target threshold value; generating a performance summary report indicating the generated service efficiency metric value and indicating a result of the comparison of the generated service efficiency metric value to the target threshold value; and displaying the performance summary report to a user via a user interface.
 12. The method of claim 2, wherein the benchmark test is at least one of a search query execution benchmark test, a processor integer benchmark test, a power efficiency benchmark test, and a memory performance benchmark test.
 13. A system for processing a plurality of feedback items, the system comprising: one or more hardware processors and a memory to store instructions that, when executed by the one or more hardware processors causes the one or more hardware processors to perform operations comprising: accessing transaction information and power consumption information associated with transaction execution by a computer data center system; generating, using one or more hardware processors, a service efficiency metric value based on the transaction information and the power consumption information, the service efficiency metric value indicating an efficiency of the computer data center system during a specific time period; and creating a server system using a combination of one or more processing components and one or more memory components, a configuration of the server system being defined to increase the service efficiency metric value.
 14. The system of claim 13, the operations further comprising: generating a target threshold value based on a prior service efficiency metric value associated with a performance of a benchmark test by another configuration of the computer data center system.
 15. The system of claim 14, the operations further comprising: determining that the generated service efficiency metric value is less than the target threshold value; and displaying a notification, via a user interface, indicating that the computer data center system is not optimized.
 16. The system of claim 13, wherein transactions include search queries executed by the computer data center system, and power consumed includes a data center power consumption value observed at the computer data center system during the execution of the search queries.
 17. The system of claim 13, wherein transactions include postings of seller listings by the computer data center system, and power consumed includes a data center power consumption value observed at the computer data center system during the postings of the seller listings.
 18. The system of claim 13, wherein transactions include purchase transactions executed by the computer data center system, and power consumed includes a data center power consumption value observed at the computer data center system during the execution of the purchase transactions.
 19. The system of claim 13, the operations further comprising: comparing the generated service efficiency metric value to a target threshold value; generating a performance summary report indicating the generated service efficiency metric value and indicating a result of the comparison of the generated service efficiency metric value to the target threshold value; and displaying the performance summary report to a user via a user interface.
 20. A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodying instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising: accessing transaction information and power consumption information associated with transaction execution by a computer data center system; generating, using one or more hardware processors, a service efficiency metric value based on the transaction information and the power consumption information, the service efficiency metric value indicating an efficiency of the computer data center system during a specific time period; and creating a server system using a combination of one or more processing components and one or more memory components, a configuration of the server system being defined to increase the service efficiency metric value. 